Cheap Airline Fares



For all of us who love to travel, there is no bigger attraction than cheap airline fares. I became a fan of cheap airline fares ever since I discovered that they exist. Each time I get into a flight I make it a point to ask my co passengers, at least those within hearing distance, what cheap airline fares they paid for the privilege of traveling together. And each time to their surprise, and my glee, they have all provided different amounts. In one memorable case, the difference in cheap airline fares that a man and his co-passenger in the next seat paid was vast enough to straddle a couple of hundred dollars.

But anyways, coming back to the topic of cheap airline fares, they really are atrocious. I mean, I have booked my tickets at various times. When time has been on my side, I have made my bookings well in advance. And especially when it comes to business travel, I have often been forced to make my bookings at the last minute. Believe it or not, there are times when I have paid more expensive fares for my bookings at leisure than the cheap airline fares I paid for my last minute rush. How do you explain that?

A friend in the airline industry then told me about how the system actually works. Usually an airline operator has a basic cost that they need to cover in order to make their trip profitable. This (which is very close to the cheap airline fares we pay) is a low figure that includes fuel charges, service charges and salaries and equipment cost etc. The cheap airline fares we pay are this base component, plus the profit margin of the airlines, plus the taxes and surcharges imposed by the airport. Regular airline fares also have the commissions charged by various tourist operators or booking agents. This makes them expensive.

Now the affordability of your cheap airline fares depends almost entirely on the premium that your agent is going to charge you for. Or on your luck. Generally, I have found that luck is the more relevant factor. For there really is no logic to an agent cutting his own commission to give you access to realistic and therefore cheap airline fares. But nowadays, when airliners themselves are the sellers of the tickets, you might as well contact them directly to access your cheap airline fares.